Utah's 4th-seat debate heads to Congress panel

Legislators looking at constitutional issues in the compromise bill

By Suzanne Struglinski
Deseret Morning News
Published: Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2006 11:42 p.m. MDT
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WASHINGTON — A potential fourth seat for Utah in the House of Representatives will resurface today when a congressional panel debates constitutional questions and other issues surrounding a bill that would create the seat.

The legislation is a political compromise designed primarily to grant a voting House member to the District of Columbia. And today's hearing is one in a series of steps that remain before the Utah and D.C. seats would become a reality.

"It will be interesting to hear what the constitutional experts say about an at-large seat in Utah," said Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah. "I'm committed to supporting an at-large seat, but I am more committed to getting a new seat for Utah."

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. will testify in support of the bill. John Fortier, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; Adam Charnes, a partner at Kilpatrick Stockton, and professor Jonathan Turley, the J.B. & Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University Law School, will also testify.

If it's approved, Utah would get an additional "at-large" member in the House who would represent the whole state until after the 2010 Census. If approved by the end of this year, the 2008 and 2010 House elections would have the at-large member before redistricting would take place for the 2012 race.

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Cannon is in a unique position because he not only sits on the House Government Reform Committee, which approved the bill back in May, but will also get to vote on it as a member of the House Judiciary Committee. The committee's Constitution Subcommittee will hold today's hearing, but the bill would need to pass through the entire committee before going to a House floor vote. It would also need to pass the Senate before going to the president.

Subcommittee Chairman Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, has not taken a position on the bill, his spokesman George Cecala said. He may have some reservations on it but will use the hearing to learn more about the bill, Cecala said.

The bill has 40 co-sponsors, including Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, who joined the list Sept. 7, and Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah.

House Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., has worked to get full voting rights for the District for years and the bill marks a compromise made to satisfy Republican members. The district's vote, if granted, would more than likely be a Democrat's seat.

Because Utah would likely get a new congressional seat after the 2010 Census, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., agreed to give Utah an at-large seat with this bill so it would be "neutral" by not giving either party an advantage with an additional seat. The at-large distinction was put in to avoid redistricting attempts to squeeze Matheson out of his seat before the next census.

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